10. Madden NFL Arcade – Electronic Arts
9. Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light – Crystal Dynamics
8. PixelJunk Monsters – Q-Games
7. Castle Crashers – The Behemoth
6. PixelJunk Shooter 2 – Q-Games
5. Joe Danger – Hello Games
4. DeathSpank – Hothead Games
3. Costume Quest – Double Fine Productions
2. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX – Namco Bandai Games
1. Dead Nation – Housemarque
Earlier this month at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) Sony officially announced their new motion controller hardware the PlayStation ‘Move’. The concept has been known about since E3 2009 however until now the name and any games has all been a mystery. Now that I have a more concrete idea of what the ‘Move’ is and how it will work I must say I am disappointed.
I understand the need Sony felt to release a motion controlled device as the success of the Wii can not be over looked even Microsoft will be making the transition later this year with Project Natal. But back to the PlayStation, when this device was unveiled as a prototype we as gamers were promised a sleeker design along with a device that would offer something different then what the current market already has. What did we effectively get? A PSWii complete with wand and nuns chuck, I mean sub-controller. They did do a lot of work regarding the design of PlayStation Move, wait it looks exactly the same as it did in protégé form. I know what you may be thinking, I am just complaining about visual aspects and the important issue is that it functions correctly.
I was looking at the list of games set to release this year and determining which of these I was interested in. Of course many caught my eye and even more have grand potential but one of the ones that is set to release real soon that I am eager to play is God of War 3. This led me to finally give the demo a try that was previously shown last year during the annual E3 exhibit. Below are my quick thoughts and impressions as I played through the 30-45 minute demo.
If you have played any of the previous games in the God of War franchise then you understand their recipe for success and will immediately feel right at home. The overall feel of the game along with the controls, combat and gameplay hasn’t changed a whole lot. But did any of us fans actually want it to? I would argue not. Santa Monica Studios have seemed to retain the God of War feel while simultaneously upping the ante in every aspect so it’s not just God of War 2a. It’s obvious since it’s on the next generation hardware but the graphics are noticeably better including the fantastic use of lighting in each area. The overall feel of the game seems to be on a grander scale. The blood, gore and brutality of Kratos have all been intensified from the previous PlayStation 2 titles.
Despite all of the similarities some interesting concepts were introduced. While the game still has QTE’s the way they are shown has improved in my eyes. For instance if you are suppose to press “X” which is on the bottom of the controller then the “X” will appear at the bottom of the screen the same applies for square, triangle and circle respectively. This allows you to stay engaged with what’s going on while still seamlessly stringing together a violent and relentless attack. There are also a few new attacks to perform on the ever relentless swarm of enemies which makes blocking a higher priority than before. However one of the biggest surprises were the minor graphical and frame rate hiccups but let it be understood that this demo is almost a year old and I am sure these issues will be cleaned up in the final product. The small bugs had no negative effect on my gameplay as I was so engaged and enjoying the fun yet short time I had with God of War 3.
Everything feels very familiar but also sorely missed. This demo re-energized my anticipation for this title and I can’t wait for it to be released. If like me you are eager to get your hands on this title then ensure you are one of the first to receive it by pre-ordering your copy from Amazon now or knock the dust off by playing the God of War: Collection
Do you have an opinion, of course you do, let us hear it by submitting a comment below which may win you a demo code of your own.
Another month bites the dust which takes us to yet another Month in Review. It was a busy month for me personally but a bit dry for gaming news. However you are in the right place to get caught up on all things Beyond The D-Pad. This is where we recap all of our posts for the past month. If you wanted a place to bookmark to see past months and where future months will be archived, thats easy, just click right here. And by all means don’t be such a stranger in the coming months. But for now here is the month that was April…
Yes, you heard right. So get all of your virtual quarters ready because the arcade phenomenon, Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, is coming back. This titles release hasn’t been the best kept secret, since it has been heavily rumored for some time now, although has now been officially announced on Marvel’s website. […]
Guess what? Its that time of the week again. Welcome to What to Play our weekly feature detailing all of the playable content for the week. If its playable and it come out this week for the PS3 then we will have it. If you would like other consoles listed let us know in the […]
With an overwhelming amount of quality games that have been released on the Playstation 3 it’s easy to overlook some of the games on the PlayStation Network. However I am here to tell you that would be a mistake. Instead I will offer you a list of the top 10 PSN games. 10. 1942: Joint Strike […]
Blizzard recently released their latest Battle Report, which is basically a replay of a game. The current Battle Report was a match played on a never before seen 1v1 map called Blistering Sands between Matt Cooper who played as the Zerg vs David Kim who played as the Terran. During the 20+ minutes of the […]
What time is it? Game Time! That’s right, I love sports and this is arguably one of the best times of the year. The NBA playoffs are starting, MLB Baseball is beginning, and the Future stars of the NFL are getting ready to be drafted and start training camp. So, anyways its also time for […]
What time is it?… Ya, I guess your right after a few weeks off that can’t be done. We’ll save that for next week. Anyways after a few weeks off due to sickness, March Madness, and life in general What to Play is back. What to Play is a weekly feature where we will highlight […]
I recently had a question posed to me from a non gamer that on the surface appeared easy. But after some thought I found myself asking the same question. What was it might you ask, simple, Why do you play video games? My first reaction was effortless, hey why don’t you play games? But decided against […]
The recently released multi-platform title F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origins is a follow up from Monolith to their successful survival horror shooter F.E.A.R. or First Encounter Assault and Recon that was released in 2005. F.E.A.R. 2 picks up directly where the original left off. You take control of Michael Becket a Delta Force Operator that Alma […]
As always we not only welcome but encourage your feedback on all of our posts. Do you have feedback, suggestions or simply want to leave a comment? Feel free to do so below via the comment section.
Yes, you heard right. So get all of your virtual quarters ready because the arcade phenomenon, Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, is coming back. This titles release hasn’t been the best kept secret, since it has been heavily rumored for some time now, although has now been officially announced on Marvel’s website. Marvel vs Capcom 2 is set to release this summer on XBLA and PSN.
To read more about this blockbuster release including information on the demo and subsequent teaser trailer hit the link below.
Yesterday via the official Playstation blog it was announced that effective today after logging in you will be able to view your own trophies online at Playstation.com. Now while I usually don’t post breaking news, many other outlets do that, I did have an opinion which I am never shy to give.
While obviously on the surface this is great news for all the PS3 owners and a step in the right direction for Sony to show the fans they are working on the online aspect and following through with promises. But it ultimately shows how far behind Sony is on this feature. All of us fans would like other elements added like social trophy cards that the compitetion has add for awhile. Now granted to their credit this is only phase 1 of their plans but just feel this should have been implemented earlier.
Anyways, enough with the pessimistic views – I am happy this was announced and look forward to the future integrations they have planned. As for the release here is a quote from the official release located here along with a video of what to expect to see when you log in. Enjoy!
If you haven’t already signed in to PlayStation.com using your PSN ID, you’re definitely going to want to tomorrow (sign in here). When we introduced PlayStation Trophies last year we promised we would be extending the feature to the web. We are near ready to release our first phase which will allow you to view your PlayStation Trophies on PlayStation.com with all of the details you can see on your PS3. Later this year, we’ll enhance these features giving you the ability to compare and sort trophies in new ways.
As always we would love to hear your feedback, let us know how we are doing and drop us a comment below.
Beyond The D-Pad 